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Twitter User Hoping for a Year of Free Wendy's Nuggets

A Twitter user asked Wendy's how many retweets he would need to earn free chicken nuggets for a year. Wendy's official Twitter account responded and now Carter Wilkinson is on a mission to get 18 million retweets. (Published Thursday, April 6, 2017)

Carter Wilkerson, a Twitter hero for our time who ventured on an unorthodox quest to get a free year's supply of chicken nuggets from Wendy's, accomplished his goal Tuesday. He also made Twitter history along the way, leaving a well-known daytime talk show queen in the dust.

Undeterred, Wilkerson set about getting those retweets and a viral movement was born. While Wilkerson didn't come close to 18 million, he did manage to topple Ellen DeGeneres's record for the most retweets. DeGeneres previously held the record, about 3.4 million, for her Oscars selfie with Bradley Cooper, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities, according to tweet-tracking website Favstar.

Apparently toppling the daytime queen was good enough for Wendy's. The fast food chain is forking over those nuggets, as well as donating $100,000 in Wilkerson's name to the Dave Thomas Foundation for adoption.